Estimating Models with Intertemporal Substitution Using Aggregate Time Series Data

In conducting empirical investigations of the permanent income model of consumption and the consumption-based intertemporal asset pricing model, various authors have imposed restrictions on the nature of the substitutability of consumption across goods and over time. In this paper we suggest a method for testing some of these restrictions and present empirical results using this approach. Our empirical analyses focuses on three questions: (i) Can the services from durable and nondurable goods be treated as perfect substitutes? (ii) Are preferences completely separable between durable and nondurable goods? (iii) What is the nature of intertemporal substitutability of nondurable consumption? When consumers' preferences are assumed to be quadratic, there is very little evidence against the hypothesis that the services from durable goods and nondurable goods are perfect substitutes. These results call into question the practice of testing quadratic models of aggregate consumption using data on nondurables and services only. When we consider S branch specifications, we find more evidence against perfect substitutability between service flows, but less evidence against strict separability across durable and nondurable consumption goods. Among other things, these findings suggest that the empirical shortcomings of the intertemporal asset pricing model cannot be attributed to the neglect of durable goods.

Communication in sudden-onset major incidents. Patterns and challenges. A scoping review.

Major incidents and disasters are rare occurrences that challenge society and health care systems substantially. The mobilization of extraordinary resources calls for robust preparedness plans, regular training and funding. Command & control is essential in major incident management. To achieve, maintain and execute command & control, communication within emergency medical services and between authorities involved in major incident and disaster management is paramount. The main aim of the master thesis is to explore communication between emergency medical services professionals in sudden-onset major incidents in a broader perspective. The thesis focuses on previous patterns and challenges in communication to provide policymakers with data for the improvement of future major incident preparedness. A scoping review of existing scientific and non-indexed literature describing communication in sudden-onset major incidents provides the sources of information in the thesis. Based on the included literature, this scoping review has found that the patterns in major incident communication are frequent breakdown with potential and actual consequences for patient survival, outcome and management and for the expedited return to a normal state. The challenges in major incident communication are predominantly inter-authority communication difficulties, system overload and lack of introduction and training in the use of communication devices. Cross-border incidents challenge communication substantively. The scoping review has shown that focus has been on describing the operational and tactical approach in sudden-onset major incidents and that communication challenges have not been assessed systematically. A general agreement that communication has been challenging exists; however, it remains mainly unquantified and improvised means of communication have been used extensively

Savings Accounts and the Life-Cycle Approach to Social Insurance

Using Danish data, we find that about three fourths of the taxes levied to finance public transfers actually finance benefits that do not redistribute between people but redistribute income over the life cycle of individual taxpayers. This provides a rationale for financing part of social insurance via mandatory individual savings accounts. An account system that offers liquidity insurance and a lifetime income guarantee helps to alleviate the dilemma between insurance and incentives. To illustrate this, we analyse a specific proposal for reform of the Danish system of social insurance, involving the use of individual accounts. We estimate how the reform would affect the distribution of lifetime incomes, the public budget, and economic efficiency. Our analysis suggests that, even with conservative assumptions regarding labor supply elasticities, the proposed reform would generate a Pareto improvement and would imply only a minor increase in the inequality of lifetime income distribution.social insurance; individual accounts; lifetime income distribution

A Time Series Analysis of Representative Agent Models of Consumption andLeisure Choice Under Uncertainty

This paper investigates empirically a model of aggregate consumption and leisure decisions in which goods and leisure provide services over time. The implied time non-separability of preferences introduces an endogenous source of dynamics which affects both the co-movements in aggregate compensation and hours worked and the cross-relations between prices and quantities. These cross-relations are examined empirically using post-war monthly U.S. data on quantities, real wages and the real return on the one-month Treasury bill. We find substantial evidence against the overidentifying restrictions. The test results suggest that the orthogonality conditions associated with the representative consumer's intratemporal Euler equation underlie the failure of the model. Additionally, the estimated values of key parameters differ significantly from the values assumed in several studies of real business models. Several possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.

Potential exposure and treatment efficiency of nanoparticles in water supplies based on wastewater reclamation

We present current knowledge on nanoparticle fate in wastewater reclamation systems for potable reuse.</p